Jimmy Carter, remembered as a devoted husband and Christian, caused a stir during his 1976 presidential campaign when he candidly discussed his feelings of “lust” and admitted to committing “adultery many times in my heart” during an interview with Playboy magazine. These remarks, as Carter later acknowledged, “nearly cost me the election.”
Carter, who passed away at 100 after spending nearly two years in hospice care, served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. After his presidency, he dedicated much of his life to charity work. However, his 1976 campaign was marked by the controversial Playboy interview, which took place with journalist Robert Scheer. The interview would have a lasting impact on his political career.
The interview that shocked the nation
Carter spent more than five hours over several months speaking with Playboy, telling Scheer and editor Barry Golson that he spent more time with them than with any other publication, including Time and Newsweek. Although the interview covered a variety of topics, it was his comments on religion and personal morality that attracted the most attention.
In their final conversation, standing outside Carter’s front door, Golson asked if the candidate’s strong religious beliefs might make him a “rigid, unbending president” unable to relate to all Americans. In response, Carter delivered an extensive 823-word speech on human imperfection, pride, and God’s forgiveness. He expressed his belief in “absolute and total separation of church and state” and framed his faith as one rooted in humility, not judgement of others.
Quoting Matthew 5:27-28, Carter explained that Jesus Christ equated lustful thoughts to actual adultery. He admitted, by that standard, he had “looked on many women with lust” and thus had “committed adultery many times in my heart.” Despite the context, headline writers and satirists seized upon the comments, with many referring to it as Carter’s “lust in my heart” interview.
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Fallout and political impact
The comments quickly gained national attention, sparking a media frenzy. Late-night talk shows and political cartoonists had a field day, and the incident became one of the defining moments of the 1976 election. Saturday Night Live, a fledgling NBC comedy show, parodied Carter’s remarks, and one political cartoon depicted him lusting after the Statue of Liberty.
In a 1993 NPR interview, Carter lamented that the Playboy interview became “the No. 1 story of the entire 1976 campaign.” Reflecting on the incident in a 2015 memoir, Carter noted that he was merely explaining Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, but it was misinterpreted and twisted to serve as a political attack.
The fallout extended to his personal life as well, with questions directed at his wife, Rosalynn Carter, about whether she trusted her husband. In response to the scrutiny, Rosalynn famously remarked that, “Jimmy talks too much, but at least people know he’s honest and doesn’t mind answering questions.” She also wrote in 1984, “The only lust I worried about was that of the press.”
The controversy surrounding Carter’s comments came at a time when his faith had endeared him to many white Evangelicals and cultural conservatives. This connection made it difficult for Republicans to portray him as out of touch with the American mainstream. However, the fallout from the Playboy interview created a divide, particularly with younger voters and urban liberals, who viewed him as overly conservative.
Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s campaign manager, referred to the issue as “the weirdo factor” and suggested that speaking to Playboy was an attempt to counter the perception that Carter was prudish. But when his comments on adultery became headline news, Carter insisted they had been off-the-record remarks made in a casual exchange as the interview was wrapping up. Scheer, however, maintained that Carter was still wearing a microphone when the conversation took place.
As the story grew, it gave the impression that Carter was “a creep,” according to media historian Amber Roessner. While his comments were seen as clumsy, she noted that their impact was exacerbated by the way they were sensationalised.
Religious backlash
In the wake of the interview’s release, political opponents, including then-President Gerald Ford, seized the opportunity to criticise Carter. Ford, who had been trailing Carter in the polls, invited evangelical pastors to the White House the day after the interview was published, including Rev. W.S. Criswell of Dallas’ First Baptist Church.
According to Criswell, he asked Ford, “Mr. President, if Playboy magazine were to ask you for an interview, what would you do?” Ford’s response, as relayed by Criswell, was, “I was asked by Playboy magazine for an interview — and I declined with an emphatic ‘No!’”
The religious right, including figures like Rev. Billy Graham and Rev. Jerry Falwell, also criticized Carter’s remarks, which were perceived as a betrayal of the conservative evangelical values they championed.
Despite Carter’s victory in the 1976 election, the controversy surrounding the Playboy interview haunted him throughout his political career. In a 2014 interview, media historian Amber Roessner noted that Carter continued to express frustration about the unfair coverage he received. He was still, nearly 40 years later, “incredibly frustrated by what he felt was unfair coverage and response” to his comments.
Scheer, who conducted the interview, defended Carter’s remarks as a “sensible statement,” reflecting his Baptist tradition. Carter, in his comments, was acknowledging that he wasn’t perfect and that he was not a “fanatic” but someone who had a complex and human understanding of his own faith.
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